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A realistic kettle toy

This ELC kettle was a present to my daughter I'm her grandparents for her fourth birthday. It's a rather cute little kettle which was perfect at the time as my daughter was very into kitchen play. Currently however at five she seems a little less interested in pretend kitchen play, however my son who is two and a half likes to play with this kettle.

It's very realistic and can be filled up with water. There are measurements showing 1-4 cups on the side of the body of the kettle which is a blue transparent plastic so it possible to see where the water is filled up to. We don't do water play that often as it is very messy, but I have let my children occasionally play with water in the kettle and pretend to make cups of tea with a plastic tea set we also have. The lid of the kettle lifts up so water can be poured in or so the kettle can be filled from the taps in the sink.

The best thing about this kettle is it makes a very realistic boiling noise when the button pushed on, until it is turned off again. My kids love this sound. It also has a red light which comes on when the kettle is turned on, just like the real thing!

As mentioned, our kettle is all blue, not blue and green like the one in the picture. A friend's daughter also has one of these early learning kettles and theirs is red, blue and yellow so I guess they must be available in a variety of different colours.

I am sure the box the kettle came in recommended this toy was suitable for 36 months and upwards, however I would say it's more than suitable for a two year old. There aren't any small parts which come off, it's handle is easy to hold and the kettle is very light without water in.

The kettle takes two AA batteries which are placed in at the base of the kettle. You will need a little screwdriver to open up the section for the batteries, which is easy to do and not a problem as the batteries last a long time.

I think the kettle costs around £10 and was a nice birthday gift for my daughter from her grandparents. It's not played with an awful lot, but does make regular appearances when my children are going through a "kitchen" phase as my son is now. I'll give it 5/5 as its durable, looks good and is very realistic for a toy.

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Early Learning Centre boiling kettle

This past Christmas my little girl got a small pink kitchen for one of her toys. I love playing with this as its a really good role play toy. The kitchen is fairly small, its just one you can play with on a table or something like that, not a big stand up walk in kitchen. The kitchen came with some play food and also some cups. My little girl loves making cups of teas for people nd in fact has now learnt to say the word tea so it really is her favourite thing to do. In light of this and in conjunction with the kitchen I decided to get her her own kettle so she could make us cups of tea in the kitchen as well.

The one we found at The Early Learning Centre is really quite realistic looking and looks like mummy and daddys kettle which makes it even more fun to play with in my little girls mind. The kettle is plastic and looks like a real kettle and also to me as its plastic resembles a water filter jug that you put in your fridge. The fact that it is made of out plastic makes this kettle quite light to lift up which is good as it will not be heavy for little kids as its quite a large kettle when it comes to a play toy.

On the side is a level indicator showing you that you can fill up your kettle from 1 cup to 4 cups. The numbers, 1, 2, 3, and 4 are written clearly on the side and I think this is a great way of having numbers on display on a toy and a good way for a child to learn their numbers in a play situation. The lid of the kettle lifts up and allows you to pour water in it if you wish. We've done this a number of times for realistic play although it is somewhat messy when your little one decides to pour out the water to make you a cup of tea, thankfully we were on our tiled floor in the kitchen.

The best thing about this jug though is that it makes realistic water boiling noises. The kettle takes 2 AA batteries and then the kettle will make a bubbling and boiling noise until you turn it off. I really like this about this kettle and think it adds an extra dimension to a well crafted toy.